Where does startup – corporate collaboration reside?
We assessed our innovation activities through the lens of the Cynefin framework and realized that while some activities fall within the complicated domain, the majority resides in the domain of complexity. This realization underscored the inadequacy of relying solely on need-driven innovation as our innovation approach. While being need-driven addresses engineering challenges, it fails to account for the crucial human element in innovation.
After reflecting on successful collaborations instead of individual activities, we identified the same common thread: the human factor. Projects flourished when agile and empathetic innovation managers were able to create trust quickly between seasoned engineers and passionate startup founders.
We realized we needed to focus on the people. This led us to coin the term "sponsor-driven innovation" to emphasize the importance of experienced people -we call them sponsors- in the innovation process.
Accepting that corporate-startup collaboration is mostly unknown territory, is key to the transition from need-driven to sponsor-driven. It means we recognize our own shortcomings, that we might not have come as far as we had hoped, that our challenges cannot be solved by experts and technology alone, and that failing fast should be part of the process.
Failing fast in a large corporation requires a high-trust environment. We create that environment by focusing on empowerment of the people we work with, being as transparent as possible, being fair towards the startups and towards each other and by sharing our efforts, of which this article is an example.
When CampX matures as a startup initiative, we will most likely venture more into the complicated domain. We will turn “unknown – unknows” into “known-unknowns”, and we will have a better understanding of the cause-and-effect relationships. Hopefully, these insights will make startup collaborations even easier to set up, and our output will have even more impact.
Balancing the big picture with deep expertise
Achieving success in scaling innovation requires striking a delicate balance between the big picture and deep expertise. Embracing sponsor-driven innovation doesn't mean turning a blind eye to opportunities or neglecting our internal needs. Instead, it entails utilizing the keen insights of our innovation team to scout for opportunities in frontier areas such as autonomous driving, electromobility, sustainability, and software-defined vehicles, while engineers in these areas leverage their expertise to give us the focus we need to engage and scale startup collaborations.
In conclusion, finding your polestar amidst the vast innovation landscape requires more than just technological expertise or problem-solving skills. It demands a nuanced understanding of the human dynamics at play, acknowledging the pivotal role of experienced people and fostering collaborative ecosystems where diverse people come together to tackle complex challenges. By embracing a people-centric approach, we can navigate the innovation landscape with purpose and clarity, forging a path towards sustainable success.
